Waste heat vapor generator



June 26, 1962 J. R. NELSON WASTE. HEAT VAPOR GENERATOR 3 Shets-Sheet 1 Filed June 25, 1958 FIG.1

INVENTOR.

James Roberr Nelson BY ATTORNEY June 26, 1962 J. R. NELSON 3,040,720

WASTE HEAT VAPORGENERATOR Filed June 23, 1958 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 ECONOMIZER INLET FIG. 2

SUPERHEATER OUTLET 21Al3OA 31 13 l 39 ZOAI' 42B INVENTOR. James Robert Nelson ATTORNEY June 26, 1962 J. R. NELSON 3,040,720

WASTE HEAT VAPOR GENERATOR Filed June 25, 1958 3 She'bs-Sheet 3 FIG. 3

INVENTOR. 25 James Roberr Nelson BY %744W ATTORNEY tates This invention relates to vapor generators and more specifically to a novel, compact, shop assembled, waste heat boiler unit.

Many industrial processes generate by-product energy in the form of sensible heat in exhaust waste gases. Utilization of the heat in such waste gases oftentimes becomes highly desirable and in some instances an economic necessity.

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a novel, neat, compactly arranged, shop assembled, waste heat boiler unit to convert the heat energy in industrial waste gases to useful steam for process or power requirements.

Another object of the invention is to provide a compaotly arranged waste heat boiler unit in which a superheater and economizer section are disposed on opposite sides of a boiler section within a common gas pass.

Still another object is to provide a novel means for supporting the superheater and economizer sections including the headers therefor within the gas pass.

Still another object is to provide a novel means for supporting the tubular elements of the superheater and economizer sections with respect to one another.

Other features and advantages will be apparent when considered in view with the drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a sectional, side elevation view of the waste heat boiler unit in accordance with this invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional plan view taken along line 2-2 of FIG. 1.

. FIG. 3 is a front end View of the waste heat boiler unit.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged detail of the fluid heater tube supports.

Referring to the drawings there is shown in accordance with this invention a compact, wholly shop assembled, waste heat boiler assembly which can be readily shipped as a complete unit and which thereafter may be readily moved from one site to another as may be required from time to time. As shown, the boiler assembly 10 comprises a setting having top 11, bottom 12, and opposed side walls 13 defining a gas pass 14 with opposed open end portions forming the gas inlet and gas outlet 15 and 16 respectively. In accordance with this invention there is disposed in the gas pass 14 a boiler section 17 consisting of an upper steam and water separating drum 1%,, a lower water drum 19 and a bank of circulatory tu es 20 connecting drums 18 and 1?, an economizer section 21 disposed downstream gas flow-wise of the boiler section and a superheater section 22 disposed upstream gas flow-wise of the boiler section.

The entire unit It) is bottom supported on a base frame 23 composed of rectangularly disposed structural channel members 24 and 25. Extending transversely of the base frame 23 are a plurality of cross ties 26 having an arcuate shaped portion 26A forming a seat on which the lower drum 19 is supported. Referring to FIGS. 1 and 3, the front and rear ends of the lower drum 19 have connected thereto a pair of outwardly extending brackets 27 and 28 respectively. Supported by each pair of drum end brackets 27, 28 is a transversely extending beam 29 on which, rectangularly disposed channel members 30 are supported to define the gas inlet and outlet openings 15 and 16. Extending between and connected to the 1 ice upright channel members 30A which define the gas inlet and outlet openings is the outer side wall casing 31 lined with suitable insulating material 31A.

The upper steam and Water separating drum 18 is disposed above the water drum 19 and is supported in its elevated position by lugs 32 and 33 welded toeach end of drum 18 and extended outwardly therefrom to support drum 18 on the upper cross channel member 31313 of the respective inlet and outlet openings. The bank of generating tubes 21 connectingdrums 18 and 1.9 in fluid circulation supplement the end supports of drum 18. As seen in FIGS. 1 and 2, the tube bank 20 includes a plurail=ty of tube rows traversing the width of the unit, with each row spaced longitudinally of the drum to occupy the central portion of the gas pass 14.

Within the gas pass 14 is a vapor or steam heater 22 disposed in a cavity located upstream, gas-flow wise of the tube bank 20 and a liquid heater or economizer 21 is disposed in the cavity located on the downstream, gas-flow wise of the tube bank 20. Each of the heaters 21 and 22 includes vertically disposed inlet header and outlet headers which are connected into fluid circulation by a plurality of horizontally disposed multi loop, or return bend, tubular elements, vertically spaced along the longitudinal axis of their respective headers.

According to this invention each of the heaters 21, 22 is Wholly supported on the ends of water drum 19. Referring to FIGS. 1 and 3, there is shown connected to each side of drum 19 adjacent the ends thereof outwardly extending brackets 35. Between the brackets 35 and beam 29 and supported therebetween is a structural member 36, which together with beam 29 form the supporting structure of a shelf 37B and 37S extending outwardly from the drum ends for supporting the fluid heaters 21 and 22 respectively.

Referring to FIG. 3, the inlet header 22A of the superheater 22 is vertically disposed and secured to upright channel member 30A of the gas inlet opening by ties 38. See FIG. 2. The outlet header 22B is oppositely disposed and connected to the opposite upright channel 30A by ties 39. Connecting headers 22A and 22B are a plurality of horizontally, disposed vertically spaced multi-loop tubes 40. As seen in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 the steam flow is from the steam drum 18 through a steam pipe 41 to the inlet header 22A. The steam then flows from the inlet header 22A, through tube elements 40 to the outlet headers 22B, the steam flow through the elements, being predominantly in cross-counter heat transfer with respect to the gas flow through the unit.

According to this invention each of the horizontally disposed tubular elements 40 are vertically stacked in spaced relationship and are supported one on another in a manner so as to accommodate for thermal expansion. This is attained by the use of spacing bars 42 disposed between the spaced superposed elements 411. Each spacing bar is fixed at one end only to an anchor strap or bar 43 connected between the upper and lower cross-channel members 30B of the gas inlet. Each spacer bar 42 also has a scalloped or notched-out lower edge portion 42A which is adapted to embrace the top outer circumference of the superheater tubular elements 46 and a straight upper marginal edge portion 4213 for supporting the next succeeding horizontally disposed superheater element thereon. With one end of the spacer bars fixed to anchor bar 43, the other end thereof 12C is extended inwardly into the gas pass to a point slightly beyond the front tube row 20A of the generating bank, FIGS. 2 and 4. The inner end 42C of each bar 42 is thus straddled by a pair of generating tubes in row 20A and is free to move therebetween.

As seen in FIG. 1, the lowermost horizontally disposed superheater tubular element rests on shelf 378. A pair of ransversely spaced bars 42 fix at one end to anchor bar 43 support and space the next succeeding vertically spaced, horizontally disposed, multiple looped element thereon. Thus, each element is supported one on the other through the use of spacer bars 42. With this arrangement the free end of spacing bars when heated is free to expand linearly and thus accommodate for thermal expansion of the tubes. The liquid heater or economizer 21 likewise includes an inlet and outlet header 21A, 213 respectively, each of which is vertically disposed andconnected to opposed upright channelmembers 30A of the gas outlet 16 by suitable ties 44. Connecting headers 21A and 218 into fluid circulation are horizontally disposed, multiple loop tubular elements 45. The economizer like the superheater is also supported on the drum end in the manner similar to as hereinbefore described.

Referring to FIG. 1, it will be noted that five tiers of horizontally spaced economizer elements constitute but a single continuous multiple-loop tube 45.

Thus for any given, single, continuous loop element of the economizer, the fluid flow therethrough is alternately cross-counter and cross parallel with respect to the gas flow thereof. 'As hereinbefore described, the economizer tubes spacing bars 46 are fixed at one end to anchor bars 47 and form the inter-deck support means for supporting one horizontally disposed portion of element 45 upon the next succeeding horizontally disposed portion thereof. Feed water from a suitable source (not shown) is introduced into the inlet header 21A of the economizer from whence it flows in alternating cross-counter and cross-parallel flow with respect to the gas flow to the outlet header 21B, the latter being connected to drum 18 by suitable piping (not shown) to supply heated make-up water to the boiler section 17.

With this arrangement it will be noted that the instant unit is compactly arranged and provides for rapid and uninterrupted horizontal gas flow therethrough to eifect eflicient heat transfer with a minimum of draft loss. Also the unit is wholly bottom supported with the casing, upper drum, superheater and economizer all supported on the lower drum.

In the present arrangement the unit can be completely shop assembled and shipped as a unit from site to site with a maximum of ease. To facilitate transporting and lifting, the unit is provided with shipping stirrups 48 welded to each side of lower drum 19 and lifting lugs 49 connected to upper drum 187 While the instant invention has been disclosed with reference to a particular embodiment thereof, it is to be appreciated that the invention is not to be taken as limited to all of the details thereof as modifications and variations thereof may be made without'departing from the spirit or scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A compact, waste heat, vapor generator comprising a setting having top, bottom and opposed side walls defining a gas pass and opposed open end portions forming a gas inlet and a gas outlet for said gas pass, a vapor generating means disposed between the open end portions of said setting, said vapor generating means including an upper drum, a lower drum, and a plurality of vapor generating tubes interconnecting said drums, a fluid heater arranged to supply a heated fluid to said vapor generating means, said fluid heater being disposed in said gas pass downstream gas-wise of said vapor generator means, a second fluid heater arranged to receive heated fluid from 7 said vapor generating means, said second fluid heater being disposed in said gas pass upstream gas-wise of said generator means, each of said fluid heaters including an inlet header and outlet header vertically disposed in the 4 t heater, bracket means connected to and extending outwardly from each end of said lower drum to form a bottom support for each of said fluid heaters, means disposed between adjacent vertically spaced multi-looped elements of each fluid heater for spacing and supporting said elements one on the other, said element support means comprising an elongated bar extending transversely of the element loops, said bar having a notched lower edge portion for embracing the outer circumference of a m-ulti-looped element, and an upper straight edge portion for supporting the next succeeding vertically spaced element thereon.

2. A compact, waste heat, vapor generator comprising a setting having top, bottom and opposed side walls defining a gas pass and opposed open end portions forming a gas inlet and a gas outlet for said gas pass, a vapor generating means disposed between the open end portions of said setting, said vapor generating means including an upper liquid-vapor separating drum, a lower drum and a bank of generating tubes connecting said drums, said tubes being disposed in tube rows traversing the width of said gas pass with said rows longitudinally spaced along the length of said drums, a fluid heater arranged to supply a heated fluid to said vapor generating means, said fluid heater being disposed in said gas pass downstream gaswise of said vapor generator means, a second fluid heater arranged to receive fluid from said vapor generating means, said second fluid heater being disposed in said gas pass upstream gas-wise of said generator means, each of said fluid heaters including an inlet header and outlet header, the headers of each fluid heater being vertically disposed in the gas pass adjacent 'the side walls at the respective open end portions of said gas pass, a plurality of horizontally disposed, vertically spaced multi-looped tubular elements connecting the headers of each fluid heater, means connected to and extending outwardly from each end of said lower drum to form a bottom support for each of said fluid heaters, bracket support means disposed between adjacent vertically spaced multi-looped elements in each of said fluid heaters for spacing and supporting said elements one on the other, said support means comprising an elongated bar extending transversely of each multi-looped element, said bar having a notched lower edge portion for embracing the outer circumference of a multi-looped element, and an upper straight edge portion for supporting the next succeeding vertically spaced element thereon, the arrangement being such as to allow for thermal expansion of said multi-looped elements.

3. A compact waste heat vapor generator comprising a setting having a top, bottom and opposed side Walls defining a gas pass, and opposed open end portions forming a gas inlet and a gas outlet for said gas pass, a vapor generating means disposed between the open end portions of said setting, said generating means including an upper drum, a lower drum and a vapor generating tube bank having a plurality of tube rows connecting said drums, said generating tube bank having its outermost tube rows extending transversely of said setting and spaced inwardly from said open end portions, a fluid heater arranged to supply a heated fluid to the upper drum of said vapor generating means, said fluid heater being disposed in said gas pass downstream gas-Wise of the vapor generating means, a second fluid heater arranged to receive heated fluid from said vapor generating means, said second fluid heater being disposed in said gas pass upstream gas-wise of said generating means, each of said fluid heaters including an inlet header and outlet header vertically disposed in the gas pass adjacent the side walls at the respective open end portions of said gas pass, a plurality of horizontally disposed vertically spaced multi-looped tubular elements connecting the inlet header and outlet header of the respective fluid heaters in fluid circulation, bracket means connected to and extending outwarly fromeach end of said lower drum to form a bottom support for each of said fluid heaters, means disposed between adacent vertically spaced multi-looped elements of said fluid heaters for spacing and supporting said elements one on the other, said element support means comprising an elongated bar extending transversely of each multi-looped element, said bar having a notched lower edge portion for embracing the outer circumference of one multi-looped element and an upper straight edge portion for supporting the next succeeding vertically spaced element thereon, and said bar having one end fixed and the other end thereof free to move to accommodate for thermal expansion of the elements, the free end of said bar projecting between and maintained in position by a pair of generating tubes in the respective outermost tube row of said generating tube bank.

4. A compact waste heat vapor generator comprising a setting having a top, bottom and opposed side walls defining a gas pass and opposed open end portions forming a gas inlet and a gas outlet for said gas pass, a vapor generating means including an upper liquid-vapor separating drum, a lower liquid drum having a head end portion, said lower drum being disposed beneath said separating drum, 2. bank of generating tubes connecting said drums in fluid circulation, said generating tube bank being disposed between the open end portions of said gas pass, a bracket and shelf connected to and extending outwardly from said head end portion of said lower drum, a fluid heater connected in fluid circulation with said vapor generating means, said fluid heater being disposed in said gas pass between the vapor generating tube bank and one open end portion of said gas pass, said fluid heater including an inlet header and an outlet header vertically disposed adjacent the side walls of said gas pass at said one open end portion thereof, each of said headers being directly bottom supported on the extended end of said bracket connected to said head end portion of said lower drum, a plurality of horizontally disposed multi-looped tubular elements vertically spaced one from the other connecting said inlet and outlet headers in fluid circulation, and said elements including a bottommost horizontally disposed multi-looped tubular element supported by said shelf extending outwardly from said head end portion of said lower drum.

5. A compact waste heat vapor generator comprising a setting having a top, bottom and opposed side walls defining a longitudinally extending gas pass having a substantially uniform cross-section and opposed open end portions, a vapor generating means including an upper liquid-vapor separating drum, a lower liquid drum having head end portions, sm'd lower drum being disposed beneath said separating drum, a bank of generating tubes connecting said drums in fluid circulation, said generating tube bank being disposed intermediate the open end portions of said gas pass and spaced inwardly thereof, a pair of spaced brackets connected to and extending outwardly from a head end portion of said lower drum, said brackets having outer ends, a transversely extending beam connected between the outer ends of said brackets, and spaced outwardly of said drum head end, a shelf connected to said rum head end, said shelf extending between said drum head end and said beam, and a fluid heater connected in fluid circulation with said vapor generating means disposed in said gas pass between the vapor generating means and an open end portion of said gas pass, said fluid heater including spaced apart inlet and outlet headers, each of said headers being vertically disposed opposite one another in the gas pass and along the side walls of said gas pass adjacent said open end portion, said headers being directly bottom supported on said beam spaced from the head end of said lower drum, and a plurality of horizontally disposed vertically spaced rnulti-looped tubular elements interconnecting said inlet and outlet headers in fluid circulation and said elements including a bottommost horizontally disposed multi-looped tubular element supported on said shelf and the weight of each succeeding superposed vertically spaced multi-looped elements being supported by the next subjacent multi-looped element.

6. A compact waste heat vapor generator comprising a setting having top, bottom and opposed side walls defining a gas pass and opposed open end portions forming a gas inlet and a gas outlet for said gas pass, a vapor generating means disposed between the open end portion of said setting, said vapor generating means including an upper liquid-vapor separating drum, a lower drum having opposed head end portions, said lower drum being disposed beneath said upper drum, and a bank of generating tubes connecting said drums in fluid circulation, said generating tube bank being spaced inwardly from the gas outlet and gas inlet respectively, a bracket and shelf connected to and extending outwardly from each of said opposed head end portions of said lower drum, a liquid heater arranged to supply a heated liquid to said Vaporgenerating means, said liquid heater being disposed in said gas pass downstream gas-wise of said vapor generating tube bank, a vapor heater arranged to receive seprated vapor from said vapor generating means, said vapor heater being disposed in said gas pass upstream gas-wise of said tube bank, each of said liquid heater and said vapor heater including an inlet header and an outlet header, the headers of the respective heaters being vertically disposed in their respective gas pass adjacent the side walls at the respective open end portions of said gas pass, the headers of each of said heaters being respectively bottom supported on the brackets connected to the respective head end portions of said lower drum, a plurality of horizontally disposed vertically spaced multilooped tubular elements connecting the respective headers of said liquid heater and said vapor heater in fluid circulation, and the b-ottommost horizontally disposed multilooped tubular element of each of said heaters being supported on the respective shelf extending outwardly of the lower drum head end portions, and the weight of each succeeding superposed vertically spaced multi-looped elements in each of said heaters being supported 'by the next subjacent element.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,618,141 Venum Feb. 15, 1927 1,839,125 Smith Dec. 29, 1931 1,883,123 Trainer et a1. Oct. 18, 1932 2,336,833 Badenhausen Dec. 14, 1943 2,550,066 Hardgrove Apr. 24, 1951 2,560,063 Armacost July 10, 1951 2,762,635 Lorber Sept. 11, 1956 2,884,911 Jankowski May 5, 1959 

